• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.79-91
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• 2017

The core of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV) is polymer solid fuel cell (PEFC), and the core material that generates electrochemical electricity in the cell is platinum catalyst. Platinum is localized in South Africa and Russia, and the world production of Pt is about 178 tons per year, which is expensive and recycled. At present, the amount of Pt used in PEFC is $0.2{\sim}0.1mg/cm^2$. In order to reduce the price of the battery and increase the FCV supply, the target is to reduce the amount of Pt used to $0.05{\sim}0.03mg/cm^2$. $Pt-Pd/Al_2O_3$, Pt/C, Pt/GCB, Pt/Au/C, PtCo/C, PtPd/C, etc. by using polyol method using nano Pt, improved Cu-UPD/Pt substitution method and nano-capsule method, Have been researched and developed, and there have been reported techniques for improving the activity of Pt catalysts and stabilizing them. This paper investigates the production technology of nano-Pt and nano-Pt catalysts, recycling of spent Pt catalysts and application trends of Pt catalysts.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.196-208
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• 2009

Sophisticated polymeric materials with 'responsive' properties are beginning to reach the market. The use of reversible, noncovalent interactions is a recurring design principle for responsive materials. Recently developed hydrogen-bonding units allow this design principle to be taken to its extreme. Supramolecular polymers, where hydrogen bonds are the only force keeping the monomers together, form materials whose (mechanical) properties respond strongly to a change in temperature or solvent. In this review, we describe some examples of hydrogen-bonded supramolecular polymers that can be utilized for self-healing materials. Synthesis of a rubber-like material that can be recycled might not seem exciting. But one that can also repeatedly repair itself at room temperature, without adhesives, really stretches the imagination. Autonomic healing materials respond without external intervention to environmental stimuli in a nonlinear and productive fashion, and have great potential for advanced engineering systems.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.12-21
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• 2017

Red mud generated in the alumina manufacturing process contains various valuable resources, but it is not comprehensively recycled yet causing severe environmental problems. In Korea, red mud is producing about 200,000 tons annually and most of them are landfilled or disposed. Red mud's recycling technology is also being developed in many countries, but red mud's recycling technologies are still lacking compared to the production rate. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics and the amount of red mud, and the current status and technology development trend. Red mud has shown that recycling studies are being carried out in fields such as construction, recycling, metal recovery, adsorbent, and pollution stabilization. In particular, technologies for recovering rare earths have been developed as worldwide because of their high economic value. The data analyzed in this study will be used as basic data for the further development of technologies in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.606-612
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• 2019

The main causes of subsidence and sinkholes in the lower part of urban roads are sewage line foundation and inadequate compaction of backfill material. This leads to many problems, such as the breakage of joints in sewer pipes, poor connection, pipe breakage, and cracks. To solve this problem, the support factor related to the sewer foundation and the safety factor according to the excavation depth were evaluated. For the foundation of rigidity tolerance, crushed stone foundation, and abandoned concrete foundation, a recently newly developed site assembly-type lightweight plastic foundation were used. Backfill materials were applied on site (sandy soil and clayey soil) and fluid backfill was recycled onsite. To evaluate the depth of excavation and the safety factor of each sewer pipe foundation, the design load considering the load factor and the support factor was evaluated. The support coefficients were 0.377 for a crushed stone foundation, 0.243 and 0.220 for an abandoned concrete foundation ($180^{\circ}$ and $120^{\circ}$), and 0.231 for a lightweight plastic foundation and fluid backfill. Overall, the safety factor was low when using the crushed stone foundation, and the safety rate was the highest when the foreclosed concrete foundation ($180^{\circ}$) was used. In addition, when the combination of lightweight plastic and fluid backfill materials was used, the safety factor was higher than that of abandoned concrete foundation ($120^{\circ}$), which means that the newly developed lightweight plastic foundation can be used as another alternative base of a steel pipe.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.65-72
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• 2020

Black dross is a dark gray dross generated during the aluminum recycling process that uses flux, and contains NaCl, KCl, Al2O3, MgO, etc. Black dross is separated into soluble substances (NaCl, KCl) and insoluble substances (Al2O4, MgO) through the dissolution process. Soluble materials can be reused as salt flux, and Al2O3 and MgO can be upcycled to various ceramic materials through the synthesis process. In this study, Mayenite was synthesized using Al2O3 and MgO recovered from black dross, and the synthesis was performed according to the mixing ratio and reaction temperature. It was confirmed that when Mayenite was synthesized using black dross (spinel) and CaCO3, precursors were changed to Mg0.4Al2.4O4 and CaO at 700 ℃, and to Ca12Al14O33 (Mayenite) after 800 ℃. In the mixing conditions experiment, it was confirmed that the Mayenite XRD peak increased with increase of the CaCO3 content, and the Mg0.4Al2.4O4 XRD peak decreased. As a result of the BET analysis of the synthesized powder, the surface area decreased as the fine particles were grown and agglomerated in the process of generating mayenite.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2021

Demand for lithium-based secondary batteries is greatly increasing with the explosive growth of related industries, such as mobile devices and electric vehicles. In Korea, there are several top-rated global lithium-ion battery manufacturers accounting for 40% of the global secondary battery business. Most discarded lithium secondary batteries are recycled as scrap to recover valuable metals, such as Nickel and Cobalt, but residual wastes are disposed of according to the residual lithium-ion concentration. Furthermore, there has not been an attempt on the possibility of water discharge system contamination due to the concentration of lithium ions, and the effluent water quality standards of public sewage treatment facilities are becoming stricter year after year. In this study, the as-received waste water generated from the cathode electrode coating process in the manufacturing of high-nickel-based NCM cathode material used for high-performance and long-term purposes was analyzed. We suggested a facile recycling process chart for waste water treatment. We revealed a correlation between lithium-ion concentration and pH effect according to the proposed waste water of each recycling process through analyzing standard water quality tests and daphnia ecological toxicity. We proposed a realistic waste water treatment plan for lithium electrode manufacturing plants via comparison with other industries' ecotoxicology.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2022

Tungsten carbide is widely used in carbide tools. However, its production process generates a significant number of end-of-life products and by-products. Therefore, it is necessary to develop efficient recycling methods and investigate the remanufacturing of tungsten carbide using recycled materials. Herein, we have recovered 99.9% of the tungsten in cemented carbide hard scrap as tungsten oxide via an alkali leaching process. Subsequently, using the recovered tungsten oxide as a starting material, tungsten carbide has been produced by employing a self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method. SHS is advantageous as it reduces the reaction time and is energy-efficient. Tungsten carbide with a carbon content of 6.18 wt % and a particle size of 116 nm has been successfully synthesized by optimizing the SHS process parameters, pulverization, and mixing. In this study, a series of processes for the high-efficiency recycling and quality improvement of tungsten-based materials have been developed.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.27-34
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• 2023

In this study, various plant-based biomass are recycled into carbon materials to employ as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Firstly, various biomass of rice husk, chestnut, tea bag, and coffee ground are collected, washed, and ground. The carbonization process is followed under a nitrogen atmosphere at 850℃. The morphological and chemical properties of materials are investigated using FE-SEM, EDS, and FT-IR to compare the characteristic differences between various biomass. It is noticeable that biomass-derived carbon materials vary in shape and degree of carbonization depending on their precursor materials. These materials are applied as anode materials to measure the electrochemical performance. The specific capacities of rice husk-, chetnut-, tea bag-, and coffee ground-derived carbon materials are evaluated as 65.8, 80.2, 90.6, and 104.7 mAh g^-1 at 0.2C. Notably, coffee ground-based carbon exhibited the highest specific capacity owing to the difference in elemental composition and the degree of carbonization. Conclusively, this study suggests the possibility of utilizing as energy storage devices by employing various plant-based biomass into active materials for anodes.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.57-68
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• 2023

In this study, coffee waste was recycled into nitrogen-doped porous carbon fibers as an active material for high-energy EDLC (Electric Double Layer Capacitors). The coffee waste was mixed with polyvinylpyrrolidone and dissolved into dimethylformamide. The mixture was then electrospun to fabricate coffee waste-derived nanofibers (Bare-CWNF), and carbonization process was followed under a nitrogen atmosphere at 900℃. Similar to Bare-CWNF, the as-synthesized carbonized coffee waste-derived nanofibers (Carbonized-CWNF) maintained its fibrous form while preserving the composition of nitrogen. The electrochemical performance was analyzed for carbonized coffee waste (Carbonized-CW)-, carbonized PAN-derived nanofibers (Carbonized-PNF)-, and Carbonized-CWNF-based electrodes in the operating voltage window of -1.0-0.0V, Among the electrodes, Carbonized-CWNF-based electrodes exhibited the highest specific capacitance of 123.8F g^-1 at 1A g^-1 owing to presence of nitrogen and porous structure. As a result, nitrogen-contained porous carbon fibers synthesized from coffee waste showed excellent electrochemical performance as electrodes for high-energy EDLC. The experimental designed in this study successfully demonstrated the recycling of the coffee waste, one of the plant-based biomass that causes the environmental pollution into high-energy materials, also, attaining the ecofriendliness.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 2024

According to the IEA (2022), global rechargeable battery demand is expected to reach 1.3 TWh in 2040. EV batteries will account for about 80% of this demand, and used EV batteries are expected to be discharged after 30 years. Used EV batteries can be recycled and reused to create new value. They can also resolve one of the most vulnerable parts of the battery supply chain: raw material insecurity. In this study, we analyzed the amount of used batteries generated by EV in Korea and their potential for reuse and recycling. As a result, it was estimated that the annual generation of used batteries for EV began to increase to more than 100,000 in '31 and expanded to 810,000 in '45. In addition, it was found that the market for recycling EV batteries in '45 could be expected to be equivalent to the production of 1 million batteries, and the market for reuse could be expected to be equivalent to the production of 36 Gwh of batteries. On the other hand, according to the plan standard disclosed by the recycling company, domestic used EV batteries can account for 11% of the domestic recycling processing capacity (pre-treatment) ('30). So it will be important to manage the import and export of used batteries in terms of securing raw materials.